'A Life More Ordinary'

As soon as he met seven-year-old Emade Okungbowa in November 2003, Dr David Donovan sensed his life was about to change.

Emade, from Warri in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, had a congenital defect in her left foot that had made it grow to 45 centimetres long, leaving her the victim of constant verbal abuse and too ashamed to go to school. Local witch doctors thought slicing her foot with razor blades and stuffing pepper in the wounds was the best way to help her. As he looked down at the shy little girl, Donovan knew he had to do better than that.

Donovan was visiting the Delta with his wife Shirley after meeting Warri pastor Francis Waive at a church meeting. Waive had told the 42-year-old British GP about the poverty plaguing his homeland, where around seven million people lived in impoverished island communities with little sanitation and no hospitals. Initially overwhelmed by the suffering he found, Donovan realised that if he could help Emade, he would be alleviating at least some of the hardship – and might begin to find the fulfillment he was looking for.

After returning home to Cambridge, England, the following week, Donovan sent the child's pictures to Mr Fred Robinson, an orthopaedic surgeon at a private hospital. Robinson agreed to operate on her free of charge. The Donovans arranged for Emade and her father to come to stay with them while Robinson reshaped the foot and a few days later, wearing a cast, Emade flew home.

Knowing that Emade still faced terrible hardship back in the Niger Delta - Donovan paid a local doctor to monitor her progress and gave her a camp bed to ensure her foot stayed dry at night during the rainy season. The couple also arranged for her to attend a private school in Warri, the fees met out of their own pocket.

Donovan knew he wanted to do more for the people of the region. He and Shirley decided to sell their four-bedroom home to help set up a medical charity, New Foundations (newfoundations.org.uk). He also began working just three days a week, leaving him with more time for the charity, though much less secure financially.

With Pastor Waive's help, the Donovans created a floating medical service, with a doctor visiting ten islands in the Delta by boat twice a month. For the first time, 40,000 people had regular malaria clinics, access to drugs and health advice, and clean drinking water.

The Donovans have also opened a cataract clinic in Warri, built a 30-bed health centre and trained 12 local people to be health workers and midwives.

''It's a privilege to help these people who are full of potential but incapacitated by circumstance,'' says Donovan. ''We're empowering them and they've made us come alive.''

As for Emade, she's getting good grades at her new school and wants to be a doctor. She laughs and jokes with her friends – and is one of the fastest runners in her class. -Lisa Loveday